“I nearly lost you. Those were the worst days of my life, Saja,” Basil had felt like the world was going to end. Those days felt endless. If he had lost her, he would have never survived it. He could not be without her. There was no life without Saja.
It hurt her to see him so broken up over her. “I'm still here and I'm not going anywhere,” she said to him and pulled him closer to her. She kissed him. “I promise,” she whispered. Tears welled up in her eyes. No one had ever loved her the way he did. They had started out roughly but they were going to have a great ending.
“We have a lot of catching up to do,” she said as she slipped the straps from her nightgown off her shoulders. Basil raised his eyebrow at her. She giggled. She kissed him again. He kissed her back. He pressed feather light kisses on her chest. He ran his hands through her curly hair. He had missed every bit of her. He caressed her and touched her so gently as if she was fragile. Basil lifted her gown up over her head and tossed it aside. Once she was naked, he inspected every inch of her to be sure that she was healing well. By the time he finished, Saja was panting heavily. Chuckling, he entered her slowly. Inch by tortuous inch. Saja did her best to hurry him along, but he would not be rushed. He groaned once he had fully buried himself all the way inside her. Holding her close, he began a languid pace that had Saja squirming and begging him to go faster. Grinning wickedly, he picked up the pace bringing them both quickly to climax. When they both calmed down, he slowly pulled out as he lay beside her.
“I love you,” he said to her as he smoothed her hair.
“I love you more,” she said to him.
Epilogue
The King and Basil had sat Saja and Mona down. They asked them every detail of what had happened. The two brothers discussed how they were going to punish El-Tamar and his family. Kidnapping the princess was unforgiveable. Prison was too kind for them. Basil had given El-Tamar a light punishment in the past and he took advantage of the mercy he was shown. He was not capable of repenting. However, in this situation, Abia was the biggest offender. She was the one who had orchestrated the entire thing. She had even laid her hands on Saja. That was unforgivable. Akeem was the only one who seemed to regret the entire thing. Saja had seen him try to defend her after she saved Anwar's life. Even after they had been arrested, he had apologised to her.
Saja went to the palace holding cells to see El-Tamar and his family. All the guards bowed to her when they saw her arrive. She stood there for a moment staring at Abia. So many emotions ran through her. Part of her wanted to get in the cell and give Abia the same beating she gave Saja. However, Saja was determined to be forgiving and certainly did not want to stoop to Abia's level.
“Karma is a bitch,” Saja said and crossed her arms over her chest. “From the beginning, you forced me to marry the Prince for personal gain but I was the one who gained and you lost. Ironic is it not?” she added.
“Do you have a point?” Abia asked.
“Then you kidnap me to ransom back your wealth but now you're behind bars without getting a single penny.”
“Please, have mercy,” El-Tamar said to her.
“You speak of mercy, yet you showed me none,” Saja looked at Abia. “You all got yourselves in this mess but you blamed me. Learn to take some responsibility and repentance,” she added and left. El-Tamar begged her to forgive them. He shouted out apologies as she left.
Abia was sentenced to life in prison. During the sentence, she was to carry out jobs like litter pick up, street sweeping and cleaning public toilets. Since she had lived her life privileged, carrying out such jobs was a nightmare for her and far worse than sitting in a cell. Basil thought it was too light of a punishment and she deserved worse but Saja believed in forgiveness. Since she was in prison for life, she could not harm anyone. El-Tamar and Aman were sentenced to twenty years in prison. Akeem and Anwar were the only ones who apologised to Saja. They had also thanked her for saving Anwar's life. Basil wanted them to wear ankle monitors for five years and live the rest of their days as servants but Saja felt bad for them. You don't pick your family. Because of her, they were able to go unpunished. Akeem came to Saja before he left. He wept at her feet and thanked her for her kindness.
* * * * *
“I am glad she was with you,” Basil said to Mona. Saja had told him how she had defended her. He really appreciated her doing so. He was grateful to her and Amber for their help. They went above and beyond for Saja. “I hear you have an interest in history and architecture,” he added. He had learned that she knew a lot about Basrat's old buildings, history and geography. He promoted her from being Saja's maid to the curator for Quabeca's royal museum. He also bought
her a new house to go with her new position. She did not have to share a room with Amber in the servants’ quarters any longer. Amber was also given her own home and promoted to a different job. She first turned it down. She didn't feel that she deserved anything. She felt as if she had let Saja down. She cried so much when Saja had returned. Saja hugged her and told her that it was okay. None of it was her fault.
It was because of Badir that they were able to find Saja. Basil gave him the title of sheik. It was long overdue. He was also given a small province of his own. He deserved it and more. He had been like a brother to Basil. Saja thanked him and the King for coming to her rescue. She appreciated them. She was happy to have them as family.
“So where are these women of yours?” Saja asked the King. She had heard much about them from Basil and it sparked her curiosity. The King sighed. Now that he was back at the palace, he had to deal with them. He had them stay away from Saja and Basil while they got back on their feet. He knew how they would be; it wouldn't have helped the situation.
“There will be plenty of time for you to meet them. Don't worry,” the King said.